Written Answers Monday 21 August 2006

Scottish Executive

Children in Care

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have run away from local authority care homes in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally.

Crime

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) violent crimes and (b) crimes were committed in each police force area in each of the last 20 years.

Cathy Jamieson: For the number of non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police, 1990 to 2004, by police force area, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-27226 on 2 August 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search . The other information requested is shown in the following tables.

  Number of Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence Recorded by the Police, 1985 to 1989, by Police Force Area

  

 Year
 Central
 Dumfries and Galloway
 Fife
 Grampian
 Lothian and Borders
 Northern
 Strathclyde
 Tayside
 Scotland


 1985
 365
 89
 309
 596
 2,300
 168
 6,965
 664
 11,456


 1986
 383
 163
 371
 678
 2,734
 153
 6,675
 661
 11,818


 1987
 445
 191
 426
 664
 3,103
 179
 7,962
 716
 13,686


 1988
 534
 388
 413
 610
 2,840
 187
 7,683
 729
 13,384


 1989
 547
 107
 419
 648
 3,177
 198
 7,800
 710
 13,606



  Number of Crimes Recorded by the Police, 1985 to 2004, by Police Force Area

  

 Year
 Central
 Dumfries and Galloway
 Fife
 Grampian
 Lothian and Borders
 Northern
 Strathclyde
 Tayside
 Scotland


 1985
 19,986
 7,132
 23,186
 33,093
 82,519
 11,888
 248,448
 31,647
 457,899


 1986
 20,295
 7,280
 23,112
 37,161
 78,606
 12,173
 245,240
 34,738
 458,605


 1987
 19,971
 7,248
 23,949
 39,013
 79,224
 12,593
 255,533
 35,416
 472,947


 1988
 19,116
 7,005
 24,174
 32,927
 73,654
 11,974
 255,659
 33,412
 457,921


 1989
 20,669
 6,572
 26,691
 33,317
 73,419
 11,355
 269,931
 36,254
 478,208


 1990
 22,525
 7,985
 29,309
 36,386
 82,163
 12,699
 287,529
 39,926
 518,522


 1991
 24,424
 9,733
 32,422
 41,136
 92,935
 13,337
 312,429
 46,505
 572,921


 1992
 22,125
 10,294
 33,605
 42,076
 90,149
 13,340
 306,047
 47,254
 564,890


 1993
 20,786
 10,169
 32,182
 40,322
 84,952
 13,076
 270,143
 45,617
 517,247


 1994
 18,985
 10,439
 30,778
 46,273
 79,711
 13,463
 255,526
 44,935
 500,110


 1995
 17,672
 8,742
 26,036
 46,812
 77,036
 15,424
 243,174
 40,801
 475,697


 1996
 16,552
 8,291
 25,020
 45,786
 74,880
 13,258
 226,745
 41,424
 451,956


 1997
 15,661
 8,357
 22,884
 44,342
 71,510
 12,266
 210,783
 34,839
 420,642


 1998
 17,066
 8,706
 23,632
 45,811
 70,460
 12,252
 220,584
 33,040
 431,551


 1999
 17,627
 8,500
 26,647
 48,078
 82,768
 12,920
 206,948
 32,215
 435,703


 2000
 16,284
 7,812
 26,796
 47,034
 81,232
 13,253
 201,149
 29,612
 423,172


 2001
 17,001
 7,697
 27,629
 43,481
 77,569
 13,732
 204,008
 29,976
 421,093


 2002
 18,282
 9,998
 28,837
 41,784
 82,136
 14,020
 199,871
 32,106
 427,034


 2003
 19,389
 10,747
 31,586
 37,897
 78,032
 14,488
 185,104
 29,736
 406,979


 2004
 20,327
 10,231
 35,171
 41,347
 84,179
 15,710
 201,222
 32,185
 440,372

Environment

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what cognisance it has taken of the European Court’s judgment in C-6/04 Commission v United Kingdom in respect of the conservation of natural habitats.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26372 by Rhona Brankin on 14 June 2006, whether the Scottish ministers’ approach, as outlined in the answer, is consistent with that of the European Court’s judgment in C-6/04 Commission v United Kingdom in respect of the conservation of natural habitats.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive is fully aware of the judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in case C-6/04. We have recently consulted on proposals to amend the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 and these include changes which reflect the findings of the ECJ in relation to the matters raised by the European Commission in case C-6/04. A Scottish Statutory Instrument will be laid in Parliament in due course.

Environment

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will transpose into Scots law EU Directive 2003/35/EC, which had a deadline of 25 June 2005 as specified in Article 6 of the directive, and what the reasons are for the delay in transposition.

Ross Finnie: The Public Participation Directive (2003/35/EC) amended the Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (1996/61/EC) and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (1985/337/EC) requiring improved public participation arrangements in those and in certain other environmental regimes. In consequence, updating was required to 14 pieces of Scottish legislation, on which progress has been as follows.

  Regulations on air quality and nitrate vulnerable zones were updated from 25 June 2005 and the required amendments made to four waste regimes on 4 August. The updated Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2005 were made on 16 November 2005 although in practice the Scottish Environment Protection Agency had been working to the new arrangements since 25 June. The extra time was taken to make additional amendments in parallel. We had consulted on draft amending regulations to update seven environmental impact assessment regimes in May 2005 and had worked to resolve the final details of those regulations. However, on-going work in this area includes provisions in relation to reserved matters and we are working with the UK Government on the details of those provisions with a view to introducing amending legislation before the Scottish Parliament in autumn 2006, completing transposition.

Environment

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the One Planet Living initiative.

Ross Finnie: "One planet living" is a way of expressing the idea that we need to live within environmental limits.

  This is one of the five UK shared principles for sustainable development underlying both the Scottish Executive’s and the UK Government’s sustainable development strategies – "Choosing our Future" and "Securing the future" – and is reflected in the priority which both strategies give to reducing our global footprint.

  The Scottish Executive has regular discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other UK Government departments on a wide range of matters relating to the implementation of the Scottish and UK Government sustainable development strategies.

Environment

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ priorities for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Ross Finnie: The Secretary of State’s priorities for Defra are a matter for the UK Government.

Home Energy Conservation Act 1995

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when each local authority submitted its report on progress under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 to Communities Scotland and whether any reasons were given for late reporting by local authorities and, if so, what the reasons were.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond.

  Her response is as follows:

  The information requested is shown in the following table:

  

 Local Authority
 Date Report Received
 Reason for Late Report


 Aberdeen City
 31-03-2006
 N/A


 Aberdeenshire
 21-06-2006
 No reason provided


 Angus
 30-03-2006
 N/A


 Argyll and Bute
 16-08-2006
 N/A


 Clackmannanshire
 3-04-2006
 No reason provided


 Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
 10-04-2006
 No reason provided


 Dumfries and Galloway
 
 Problems with long-term absence through ill health. 


 Dundee City
 27-03-2006
 N/A


 East Ayrshire
 27-03-2006
 N/A


 East Dunbartonshire
 29-03-2006
 N/A


 East Lothian
 12-05-2006
 No reason provided


 East Renfrewshire
 31-03-2006
 N/A


 Edinburgh
 3-04-2006
 No reason provided


 Falkirk
 17-05-2006
 No reason provided


 Fife
 31-03-2006
 N/A


 Glasgow
 1-08-2006
 No reason provided


 Highland
 3-04-2006
 No reason provided


 Inverclyde
 31-7-2006
 No reason provided


 Midlothian
 2-07-2006
 No reason provided


 Moray
 29-03-2006
 N/A


 North Ayrshire
 12-05-2006
 No reason provided


 North Lanarkshire
 28-03-2006
 N/A


 Orkney Islands
 10-04-2006
 No reason provided


 Perth and Kinross
 3-04-2006
 


 Renfrewshire
 15-05-2006
 No reason provided


 Scottish Borders
 7-06-2006
 No reason provided


 Shetland Islands
 31-03-2006
 N/A


 South Ayrshire
 31-03-2006
 N/A


 South Lanarkshire
 14-07-2006
 No reason provided


 Stirling
 29-03-2006
 N/A


 West Dunbartonshire
 15-06-2006
 No reason provided


 West Lothian
 31-03-2006
 N/A

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been fined for litter offences in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.

  Persons Fined in Scottish Courts for Litter Offences1, by Approximate Local Authority Area2, 1999-2000 to 2004-05

  

 Local Authority Area
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Aberdeen City 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1


 Aberdeenshire 
 -
 -
 -
 1
 1
 -


 Angus 
 1
 1
 4
 -
 -
 -


 Argyll and Bute 
 -
 1
 -
 -
 -
 1


 Clackmannanshire 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 1
 -
 1
 -
 -


 Dundee City 
 -
 1
 2
 3
 5
 2


 East Ayrshire 
 -
 -
 3
 -
 1
 1


 East Dunbartonshire
 -
 1
 -
 2
 1
 1


 East Lothian
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 East Renfrewshire 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -


 Edinburgh, City of 
 -
 -
 1
 1
 -
 -


 Eilean Siar
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Falkirk 
 -
 -
 1
 1
 -
 2


 Fife
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Glasgow City 
 2
 1
 3
 5
 2
 5


 Highland 
 3
 1
 -
 1
 -
 2


 Inverclyde 
 1
 1
 1
 3
 -
 1


 Midlothian
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Moray 
 2
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1


 North Ayrshire 
 2
 1
 -
 1
 2
 2


 North Lanarkshire 
 4
 1
 3
 1
 1
 9


 Orkney Islands
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Perth and Kinross
 1
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Renfrewshire 
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -


 Scottish Borders 
 -
 -
 -
 2
 -
 3


 Shetland Islands
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 South Ayrshire 
 1
 2
 -
 2
 1
 2


 South Lanarkshire 
 -
 -
 5
 5
 5
 4


 Stirling 
 -
 -
 1
 1
 -
 -


 West Dunbartonshire
 1
 -
 -
 -
 2
 -


 West Lothian 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -


 Scotland
 19
 12
 24
 31
 23
 38



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence was categorised as a litter offence under the Scottish Executive Justice Department’s classification of crimes and offences.

  2. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area. Some local authority areas, including East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Ayrshire, do not contain a sheriff court.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times sheriffs have granted bail where a procurator fiscal has recommended against it in each of the last 10 years, broken down by sheriff court area.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Meat Industry

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what training contracts have been awarded by Scottish Enterprise to Scottish Meat Training in each of the last three years and what the reasons are for any reduction in the amount of funding awarded to Scottish Meat Training over this period.

Allan Wilson: Details about training contracts or funding awarded by Scottish Enterprise to Scottish Meat Training in the last three years is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. This information is not held centrally.

Memorials and Commemorations

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has contributed to (a) memorials and (b) commemorations in each year since 1999, also broken down by memorial or commemoration.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our records show that, since 1999, the Scottish Executive has made the following payments towards war memorials and commemorations.

  In 2004-05, the Hearts Great War Memorial received £5,000 for the memorial cairn at Contalmaison in France commemorating the 16th Battalion, The Royal Scots. Also in 2004-05, the Scottish Executive made an ex-gratia payment of £1,000 to the 51st Highland Division Veterans Pilgrimage Association towards the costs of erecting a memorial in Normandy.

  In 2005-06, the Executive underwrote the commemorations in Scotland organised by Veterans Scotland for the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, totalling £33,585.71. This year, 2006-07, the Executive has again assisted Veterans Scotland to commemorate veterans by providing funding of up to £10,000 towards the costs of the National Veterans Day celebrations that took place in Dundee on 1 July 2006.

  In addition to this, Historic Scotland, as custodians of historic buildings and monuments across the nation, carried out repairs to the Argyll and Sutherland War Memorial at Stirling Castle in 2005-06 at a cost of £14,797.80. Between 1999 and 2006 the agency has also undertaken conservation and maintenance works on the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle at a total approximate cost of £55,000. This can be broken down as follows:

  
1999-2006: On-going cleaning and electrical maintenance works- £14,000
2001-02: Conservation works- £2,000
2003-04: Roofing works- £19,000
2005-06: Masonry works, glass repairs and disabled ramp works- £20,000.


  For the years 2001-07, the Scottish Executive has provided funding totalling £405,568.13 to communities across Scotland for the commemoration of Holocaust Day. This total includes £126,280 funding for primary and secondary school education packs. Details of this funding are as follows:

  
2000-01: Edinburgh- £47,288.13 (contribution to event)
2001-02: Glasgow- £20,000 (contribution to event) + £73,280 Primary Education Pack
2002-03: UK event Edinburgh- £20,000 (contribution to event) + £53,000 Secondary Education Pack
2003-04: East Renfrewshire- £45,000 (contribution to event)
2004-05: South Lanarkshire- £25,000 (contribution to event)
2005-06: Edinburgh- £82,000 (fully-funded event and exhibition)
2006-07: Fife- £40,000 (contribution to event).

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Communities will reply to my letter of 12 June 2006 regarding Supporting People.

Malcolm Chisholm: Johann Lamont replied on my behalf on 3 August 2006.

Ministerial Events

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many conferences have been addressed by Scottish ministers each year since 1999, broken down by (a) minister and (b) company which organised the conference.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

NHS Staff

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many radiographers have been employed in each of the last five years in each NHS board, also showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is given in the following table.

  Table 1 NHS Scotland Workforce Statistics, Radiographers by NHS Board and Year-on-Year Percentage Change

  

 
 Headcount at 30 September
 
 Percentage Change (September)


 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Scotland
 1,408
 1,466
 1,498
 1,557
 1,530
 1,562
 4.1%
 2.2%
 3.9%
 -1.7%
 2.1%


 NHS Argyll and Clyde
 83
 85
 89
 97
 94
 92
 2.4%
 4.7%
 9.0%
 -3.1%
 -2.1%


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran
 87
 87
 87
 86
 86
 88
 0.0%
 0.0%
 -1.1%
 0.0%
 2.3%


 NHS Borders
 19
 20
 19
 20
 22
 24
 5.3%
 -5.0%
 5.3%
 10.0%
 9.1%


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway
 28
 28
 27
 27
 27
 26
 0.0%
 -3.6%
 0.0%
 0.0%
 -3.7%


 NHS Fife
 57
 59
 56
 63
 66
 58
 3.5%
 -5.1%
 12.5%
 4.8%
 -12.1%


 NHS Forth Valley
 56
 58
 58
 59
 49
 53
 3.6%
 0.0%
 1.7%
 -16.9%
 8.2%


 Golden Jubilee
 -
 -
 7
 10
 12
 13
 x
 x
 42.9%
 20.0%
 8.3%


 NHS Grampian
 146
 146
 155
 158
 161
 166
 0.0%
 6.2%
 1.9%
 1.9%
 3.1%


 NHS Greater Glasgow
 377
 402
 405
 422
 428
 437
 6.6%
 0.7%
 4.2%
 1.4%
 2.1%


 NHS Highland
 54
 54
 61
 67
 57
 62
 0.0%
 13.0%
 9.8%
 -14.9%
 8.8%


 NHS Lanarkshire
 111
 119
 124
 123
 126
 130
 7.2%
 4.2%
 -0.8%
 2.4%
 3.2%


 NHS Lothian
 238
 253
 256
 260
 243
 252
 6.3%
 1.2%
 1.6%
 -6.5%
 3.7%


 NHS Orkney
 4
 3
 3
 3
 2
 2
 -25.0%
 0.0%
 0.0%
 -33.3%
 0.0%


 NHS Shetland 
 4
 5
 6
 7
 4
 4
 25.0%
 20.0%
 16.7%
 -42.9%
 0.0%


 NHS Tayside
 139
 141
 138
 148
 148
 149
 1.4%
 -2.1%
 7.2%
 0.0%
 0.7%


 NHS Western Isles
 5
 6
 7
 7
 5
 6
 20.0%
 16.7%
 0.0%
 -28.6%
 20.0%



  Source: ISD Scotland, NHS Workforce Statistics, IR 2006-02174.

Nuclear Power

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the application of its strategic environmental assessment legislation will be restricted to the land use aspects of building new nuclear power stations or whether the legislation will enable a strategic consideration of Scotland’s energy requirements and opportunities.

Allan Wilson: An application to build a nuclear power station would come from the commercial sector. Such a proposal would be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment and would be considered by Scottish Ministers under their powers under the Electricity Act 1989. It would be for the commercial developer to consider whether the proposal would also require a strategic environmental assessment under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005.

  The UK government has considered the UK’s energy requirements and opportunities through the UK Energy Review process. The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 applies only to plans and strategies which relate solely to Scotland. It is for the UK Government to decide whether any UK-wide strategy would require a strategic environmental assessment under the relevant UK legislation.

Parenting

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to develop a national parenting strategy to promote the acquisition of parenting skills for both current and future generations of parents.

Robert Brown: The Scottish Executive is not currently developing an over-arching parenting strategy. We are, however, undertaking a range of cross-cutting action to support parents and families and promote better parenting.

Planning

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it provided to Planning Aid for Scotland in the most recent year for which figures are available and what information it has on how this funding compares to that provided by government sources in England and Wales.

Johann Lamont: In financial year 2005-06, the Scottish Executive provided funding of £161,711. This is being increased so that in the current financial year, they will receive up to £225,283.

  In 2005-06 the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provided funding worth £1.5 million for Planning Aid in England whilst the Welsh Assembly Government provided funding of £100,000 to Planning Aid Wales over the same period.

Planning

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue or enhance the funding of Planning Aid for Scotland to facilitate greater community engagement within the planning system envisaged in the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill.

Malcolm Chisholm: In the last financial year the Scottish Executive provided funding of £161,711 for Planning Aid for Scotland. This is being increased so that in the financial year 2006-07, they will receive up to £225,283. Budgets beyond March 2008 will be set in autumn 2007 following the next Spending Review.

Smoking

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how people have been fined for dropping cigarette ends since the introduction of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places, broken down by local authority area.

Lewis Macdonald: The number of fixed penalty notices for littering issued by police and local authorities under their respective powers in Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is not held centrally.

Smoking

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional money has been allocated to local authorities in respect of the implementation of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places.

Lewis Macdonald: Local authorities have been allocated just over £6 million over three years to enforce the smoke-free legislation (£0.6 million in 2005-06, £3 million in 2006-07 and £2.5 million in 2007-08). In addition to providing for the employment of additional staff across the country, to enforce the smoke-free laws, this funding will also provide additional resources more generally for environmental health services.

Smoking

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to monitor the impact of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places in relation to any additional costs incurred by local authorities in the clean-up of discarded cigarette ends.

Lewis Macdonald: Local authorities are responsible for handling the problem of litter and they will be keeping the issue under review as experience of the smoke-free legislation grows. Local authorities have been given significant additional funding not only to enforce the new law but also to provide for additional resources more generally for environmental health services in each council. It is for them to determine how the funding should be used depending on local circumstances.

Smoking

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any increase in the incidence of public disorder since the introduction of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places.

Lewis Macdonald: There is no evidence at present to suggest that public disorder related to the ban on smoking in enclosed public places is a significant problem, although there is some anecdotal evidence of instances of increased noise outside some licensed premises. Local authorities and the police have existing powers to handle excessive noise and anti-social behaviour and they together with the Scottish Executive will be keeping these issues under review.

Wildlife

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has taken on offering a bounty for a cull of grey squirrels and whether it will take any action on this issue.

Rhona Brankin: During the Squirrel conference I hosted in February this year I asked Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission Scotland to form a working group to advise me how best to conserve the red squirrel population in Scotland and to prepare proposals for an action plan. I understand that the group considered a range of possible approaches to grey squirrel control and that they concluded that a bounty scheme would not be able to achieve the necessary targeting of effort and would not provide good value for the use of public money. The group also expressed concerns about the potential public safety and animal welfare implications.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Community Outreach

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many requests for community outreach events since June 2003 have not resulted in an event taking place and what the reasons were in each case, broken down by constituency.

Duncan McNeil: Community Outreach events have been held since September 2004. Indeed we have a full programme of community outreach events scheduled until the end of 2006, and we are unable to schedule any further events in this period.

  The Community Outreach Officer does not as standard practice retain a record of reasons for refusal by individual MSPs. However, in our experience these broadly fall into the following categories:

  
No response/no reason given.
Member interested in principle but not at this time.
Member undertakes his or her own outreach work.
Member does not wish to participate in the Parliament’s outreach programme.


  The Parliament’s outreach services, like any SPCB service, are kept under regular review, and officials will be considering these later this year, with a view to any changes being introduced in the next session of Parliament. In the meantime, the Outreach Team would be happy to advise any MSP on suitable venues and contact details for any outreach event an MSP may wish to organise on his or her own behalf, and to provide Parliamentary presentations and other public information material.